Moving Forward: A Message From the Principal

On the Making History Tour: Principal Heather Munroe-Blum speaks to alumni and friends in Boston on June 10, 2008.

Notwithstanding the turbulent times we all find ourselves in, great things continue to happen at McGill. This September, we hosted one of the world’s first conferences on the global food crisis, which provided a forum for academics, industry stakeholders, media and the public to address the urgent issues of declining food supplies and rising prices.

We have completed the most ambitious construction project in McGill’s history – the Life Sciences Complex. This glorious structure is already proving to be a vital hub for interdisciplinary research, bringing together some of the world’s key scientific talent as we search for life-saving medical breakthroughs.

We are moving forward with the greening of our two campuses. In September, McGill opened its new Office of Sustainability, with two staff members joining students to energize this initiative. Our active sustainability program was one of the factors cited when McGill was included this October in Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2009 by Maclean’s magazine.

And for the fifth year in a row, McGill has been named one of the top 25 universities in the world by the Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings. Our current rankings of 20th in the world, and 10th in the Life Sciences category, keep McGill in the top echelons of higher learning worldwide.

Recently, I have had the privilege of meeting many of our alumni, parents and friends on McGill’s Making History Tour. At these events, I aim to tell each person I meet that it is because of you that McGill is making such a mark in the world. You are our ambassadors, and I am tremendously proud of our global McGill family.

Campaign McGill is a vitally important initiative: It is our way to recognize our accomplishments, recruit new students and faculty, enhance our research and scholarly collaborations and build our worldwide network of supporters. Most importantly, it is the way to move forward.

And regardless of current economic circumstances, philanthropy remains strong at McGill – thanks, as always, to the steadfast support of our extraordinary community. In our global world, there is no greater cause than university education and research.These are the powerful engines that will secure economic prosperity and strong civil society. We are all partners in this process.

My profound thanks for your continued support of our great university. I wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Heather Munroe-Blum, OC
Principal and Vice-Chancellor

Photo: Joey Libby Photography